The Perfect Moment in Peril

by Kenneth Preston

  David nodded his assent. Boy, does she! He knew that his sexual encounter with Emily was directly related to that difference and that, sooner or later, if he were to be completely forthcoming with Richard and George regarding Emily's demeanor, he would have to tell them―if they didn't already know.

  Richard continued, “And the change seems to have taken place after her rendezvous in the airlock. The change in her demeanor was subtle but noticeable.” He paused for a moment, drew in a deep breath and exhaled as if preparing himself for the words that were about to leave his mouth. David was pretty sure what the context of those words would be. “Then I find you coming out of her room, and I happen to sneak a glance at her lying on the bed...”

  David shook his head. “I'm sorry, Richard.”

  Richard twisted his face in an expression of mock bewilderment. “Sorry? Sorry for what? You're both adults. There's nothing to be sorry for.”

  “We don't mean to pry into your private matters,” George said, “but obviously, Emily being who she is, it begs the question. For the sake of clarity, just so we're all on the same page here, did you have sex with her?”

  David felt his face flush. He was mortified at having to answer the question, but there was no way around it. “Yes.”

  “Is that even possible?” George asked rhetorically.

  David couldn't resist a soft chuckle. “That's what I said.” This is getting weird. I'm a sentence or two from gossiping with my surrogate father and surrogate uncle. If either of them offers to high five me, I'm diving head first out the airlock. “But, uh...it happened. I can't explain it.”

  George hesitated, carefully considering his next words. “How did she act? I mean, I'm not asking you for details on the encounter itself.”

  David cringed. “Oh...no.”

  “No.”

  “That would just be...”

  “Weird,” David and George said simultaneously.

  “No, I mean, how did she act before...and after I guess?”

  “After is easy. She passed out. Before, she was acting sexy...seductive, I guess. I mean, she definitely initiated the encounter. She seduced me, pulling me into her quarters.”

  George said, “Weren't you at all concerned?”

  “Of course I was concerned, but I was also...you know.”

  “We know,” George said. “And I guess the you know took over.”

  David nodded. “The you know took over.”

  Richard said, “Well, we're glad to know you're at least concerned. Hopefully, you're as concerned as we are. I'm not sure if this change has crossed over into the land of troubling, but it's concerning, to say the least."

  “I agree,” David said. “The question is what do we do about it?”

  Richard shrugged. “At this point, what can we do about it? We keep an eye on her. I hate to put you in this position, but you are, for obvious reasons, much closer to her than we are. You're intimately close to her. George and I have a familial relationship with her. You have something else. We need you to be our eyes and ears.”

  Richard's words touched a cynical nerve in David. “You need me to be your spy.”

  Richard sighed. “Spy? That sounds a bit harsh. We have no idea what's going on with her. You agree that her demeanor is concerning. We just want you to keep an eye on her for her sake...and our own.”

  David was taken aback by that last comment. He raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “You think she's dangerous?”

  “No,” George said. “Well...we don't know. But we're out here in space on another mission with Emily, a mission that could mean the beginning or the end for our species. Emily is different. She's always been different. She's always been unique. But now we've had a run-in with ourselves from two weeks in the future, a run-in that has the potential to create a paradox. She meets with herself from two weeks in the future and comes back to us...changed. There are just so many variables. There is so much at stake. We need to be cautious.”

  David shrugged. “All right. I'll keep an eye on her, and report to you if anything gets...weirder. Is that even possible at this point?”

  “Oh, it's possible,” George said ominously. “It's very possible. I have a feeling that things are about to get a lot weirder.”

  Chapter 14

  The streets were barren, but she knew the streets so well. It was a city. New York. Having grown up on Long Island, she had been to the city countless times. In fact, she had wanted to live there at one point. It had seemed so happening, vibrant. It was the epicenter of American culture. But that was a long time ago, back when there were cities, back when there were people, back when she wasn't so alone.

  She knew full well that what she was seeing and experiencing wasn't real. It was a vision or a dream. A lucid dream. She was asleep. Why was she dreaming of this city? Why was she alone in this city? New York was the city that never sleeps. She shouldn't have been so alone. She shouldn't have been so cold.

  She was naked. Standing in Times Square, her bare form was shivering. She wrapped her arms around herself in a futile attempt to keep the cold away from her skin, to keep the cold from making its way to her bones. Why was she naked? What if the city that never sleeps woke up and saw her? She would be mortified. But she wasn't concerned about it. The city wouldn't wake up, because the city wasn't asleep. The city was dead. Well, not exactly dead. Transformed. Evolved. Yes, that was the word. They had evolved and moved on. They had left the superfluous structures that humans had built. They had no use for them. They had no use for her. They had left her behind as well. They had left her in the city, naked and alone. Why had they done this to her? Why had she done this to herself? It had been her choice. Embrace the flesh or embrace the light. She had embraced the flesh, and now she was alone.

  No, none of this was real. This was just a dream, a dream based on a memory. She had been a part of this process. She had helped the others make their way to the Great Community. She had helped to phase out the structures that surrounded her. She had helped to bring the natural world to the forefront. And she had done it all as a non-corporeal being. Not as the corporeal being she imagined herself to be. Not as the corporeal being that dragged David into her quarters for a night of passion. This was just a dream, a lucid dream, a dream based on memories. Memories of the role she had played in bringing all of those corporeal beings to the next stage of their evolution. Memories of the role she had played in wiping the Earth clean, or nearly clean, of all those superfluous human-made structures. Memories of the choice she had to make. She was starting down a path, but she still had a foot in two worlds, starting down the path toward one world, but dragging her foot in the other.

  All of this would have been a moot point if only she had had a chance to experience all of the physical beauties that corporeal beings experienced. She had left her corporeal form so early in her physical life. She had been nineteen-years-old in a world of incredible medical achievements. People in the 22nd Century had been living well into their hundreds. She hadn't been given the time to experience all there was to experience in her physical form.

  A rumble. Like an earthquake. Subtle and brief. It was gone. She breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't know why. She knew it was inevitable. She knew it was coming. The pavement beneath her feet shook violently, nearly knocking her off her feet. The buildings around her began to sway. The electronic billboards on the iconic One Times Square building with their numerous 21st Century advertisements flickered and went blank. The billboards' glass shattered, raining glass onto the barren pavement below. The billboards themselves followed, shaking from the structure and toppling to the pavement. Debris fell from the top of One Times Square as the building crumbled like a house of cards. Seeming to set off a domino effect, the buildings surrounding her followed suit, crumbling clockwise and counter-clockwise around her, leaving massive piles of rubble in their wake.

  “This is not how it happened!” she screamed against the ear-shattering sound of shaking earth and crumbling structures.
“This is not how it's supposed to happen!”

  To her left, the street began to tear itself open, a long gash running down the center of Broadway. The natural world pushed its way up through the gash, trees reaching to the sky to reassert their dominance.

  She turned and watched as the process repeated itself all around her, gashes opening up and swallowing the rubble, trees returning to their former glory, grass and weeds pushing their way up through the remaining debris, the debris turning to dust and seeping into the ground.

  Within moments, the transformation was nearly complete. The Earth stopped shaking. She was standing in a jungle. The only trace of city that remained was the patch of asphalt she stood on. She was reluctant to step off of the asphalt. It was her last link to the city, to the world she had once known. She knew that if she stepped into the weeds, the patch of asphalt would disappear. It was all she had left.

  It's just a dream, Emily. It's just a dream. Step into the weeds, and let this dream run its course.

  She stepped into the weeds and looked back. The weeds effortlessly pushed their way through the circular piece of asphalt, shattering it, each pebble-sized piece of asphalt crumbling into fine powder and vanishing.

  It was all gone, and she wept. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. They weren't supposed to destroy it. She went with them last time. She wouldn't go with them this time. She would stay back here with her friends, her corporeal family.

  This is just a dream, Emily. This is just a dream. It's some kind of a sign. You still have a choice.

  She opened her eyes. She was lying on her back, the sheet pulled down, exposing her bare torso. She instinctively covered herself, propped herself up on her elbows and turned to her left. She allowed herself a moment to speculate. David's absence could have meant any number of things. He could have been using the bathroom. He could have been grabbing a bite to eat. He could have been strolling about the ship.

  Or...he could have been turned off by her lack of decorum. He could have found his experience with her less than thrilling. It had been her first time. Perhaps she wasn't very good. Oh, get off it, Emily. He's not that shallow. He loved her. There was no doubt about it. He wouldn't abandon her over a less than thrilling first sexual experience. Besides, she thought their experience together had been pretty good. Passionate. She had actually exhibited more passion than David. Her demeanor could have been described as assertive...aggressive.

  Perhaps that was the issue. What issue? You're getting ahead of yourself, Emily. You're paranoid. Perhaps he was caught off guard by her rather assertive demeanor. Perhaps he was confused by it. If he wasn't, he should have been. She dragged him into her quarters. She wasn't sure she understood it herself. They had never discussed what she could and couldn't do in her non-corporeal state. Amazing considering that they had been together for six months after she had rejoined the Great Community. It was a touchy subject, one that neither of them felt comfortable raising, not during that transitional time in their relationship, not when they were still trying to figure it all out. Could she have had sex with him in her non-corporeal state? Yes, but she would have been simulating the act. It would have been more for him than for herself. All right, it would have been all for him. But now? Now was different. She wanted to be with him.

  She hadn't put much thought into how she would explain the situation to him. She hadn't put any thought into it. She had only been thinking with her body, and her body told her it was time. But they would have to talk about it. She would have to explain it to him...as soon as she figured it out herself.

  Of course, there remained the very real possibility that they had all taken notice of the change in her demeanor and were meeting to discuss it. This scenario was more than possible; it was likely. She could just see them huddled together, speaking in hushed tones. They could have confronted her. They could have asked her what was going on with her. It would have to come out sooner or later. She was changing. That much would be obvious to all of them. She hadn't told them that each moment separated from the Great Community brought her closer to her physical form. She hadn't told them that literally confronting herself, touching herself, had called into question whether or not she should run from her physical form. If they had noticed the change in her, and she was sure that they had, they should have inquired. But what were they doing now? More than likely discussing what to do about Emily.

  She jumped out of bed, threw on the clothes David had stripped from her body, marched into the corridor and immediately caught sight of David, Richard and George making their way up the corridor from the rear of the ship. She had a choice to make: play it safe or follow her gut. She was sick of playing it safe. Her gut told her to confront them, and she acquiesced, marching toward them, her arms crossed defiantly over her chest. Her suspicions were validated the moment her eyes settled on David's sheepish expression.

  “What's going on?” she asked.

  “It's time,” Richard said.

  That wasn't the answer she was expecting. “Time? Time for what?”

  “We've arrived.”

  Chapter 15

  David was thankful for this moment. Historic, yes. But also timely. He was thankful for the timely part. They had been summoned from the lounge moments before running into Emily. He knew exactly what she'd meant when she'd asked them, or him, what was going on. She was suspicious, and she had every reason to be. He had ducked out after a night of passion to essentially gossip about Emily with Richard and George. She knew they had been talking about her. It was written all over her face. It was evident in her penetrating glare. He didn't like it any more than she did. He had been sucked into it.

  For the former chief engineer of NASA, it was a sight to behold, one that he was certain he appreciated more than any of his crewmates. He wasn't even sure how many of them were in the cockpit. He couldn't take his eyes off of the anomaly. It was far more spectacular than the way it had been depicted in the science fiction movies and television shows that had sparked his imagination growing up for one simple reason: It was real.

  Deanna said, “Uncle George?”

  Standing behind Elexa's and Deanna's seated positions, George had to peel his eyes away from the anomaly outside the viewport to look down at Deanna. She was looking up at him, her eyebrows furrowed in mock irritation.

  “Close your mouth before you drool on me,” she said coolly.

  George closed his mouth and smiled sheepishly before returning his gaze to the anomaly. It was exactly what he had expected to see. It looked like a sphere, similar in appearance to a giant crystal ball, with distorted images of the galaxies that lay on the other side of the wormhole appearing to cover the sphere.

  “It's beautiful,” he whispered.

  “It is,” came David's voice from behind him. “But what is it? I mean, that's not the wormhole, is it?”

  “It is,” George said without looking back. “It doesn't appear to be a hole, but that's exactly what it is. It's a three-dimensional hole in space.”

  “Is it safe?” David queried.

  “It must be,” George replied. “The other Encounter made it through...twice.”

  “Or we've made it through before,” Elexa chimed in. “That would be another way of looking at it.”

  “Or we're going to make it through,” Deanna offered. “It hasn't happened yet.”

  “Whatever,” Elexa retorted. “It has, but it hasn't.”

  “In any event,” Richard said, “we know we can make it.”

  “Exactly,” George agreed. “We can make it.”

  “Emily,” Deanna called back, “you wanna get in on this?”

  “I told you; I got nothin'. I can't see what's gonna happen.”

  All heads turned toward Emily. A broad smile crossed her face. “But I believe we're gonna make it.”

  Elexa turned toward the viewport and slapped her console enthusiastically. “That's good enough for me! Let's do this!”

  Deanna touched her console. “I'll take t
hat as an order to move in.”

  The ship began its approach, the wormhole growing in the viewport. It looked as if they were approaching a planet, one covered with swirls of light.

  George didn't notice the silence until he could actually hear his heart pounding in his chest. He took a deep breath, in through his nose and out through his mouth. The sound of his breath was piercing in the thick silence.

  “You all right there, Uncle George?” Deanna whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.

  “Fine,” George muttered without looking down.

  The wormhole filled the viewport before completely covering it. They were right on top of it. Moment of truth. It appeared to bend inward as they penetrated it. It was as if they were pushing the sphere inward at the center, the outer areas of the sphere stretching along with them, following them in, the images of galaxies warping, elongating.

  They were in, and it was spectacular. Their destination, a cluster of stars, was visible at the opening of the wormhole up ahead. Surrounding them were the images of distorted, elongated galaxies.

  The ride was smooth, no turbulence. George had been expecting a rocky ride. He didn't even realize how smooth the ride was until the ship reached the mouth of the wormhole, until the inside of the wormhole was no longer visible through the viewport. They crossed the threshold, exiting the wormhole without a hitch.

  “Well, that went well,” Elexa remarked softly, breaking the silence that nobody knew had existed until it had been broken.

  “Better than expected,” George muttered.

  “You were expecting something else?” Deanna asked.

  George let out a long sigh. “I knew we would make it. It was just smoother than I expected. I thought there would be a few bumps in the road, that's all.”

  “Well, maybe those big bumps you were expecting are up ahead,” Deanna suggested.

  “Let's not jump to conclusions,” Richard chimed in. “We have absolutely no idea what to expect.”